Mary Kom actress Lin Laishram feels Priyanka Chopra's casting as the North Eastern boxer was 'heartbreaking'

Actress Lin Laishram has opened up about the bias against North East actors and called the casting of Priyanka Chopra for the film Mary Lom ‘heart breaking’. The actress feels it could have been any actress from the region since the story was based on the Olympian boxer from Nagaland.

Talking to Bollywood Hungama Lin who was also cast in a supporting role in the movie said,  “As an actor, that self-centred egoistic actor tells me that I should have been... But it could have been anybody from the North East. We have many great actors. I want to be generous here, and say that there were many, many actors who could have done this. But the casting and the whole team decided on someone else. It's heartbreaking, but we are coming along, and I hope that this does not happen again.”

Talking about the stereotyping that North East actors face in mainstream cinema Lin added, “A lot of times, the casting is stereod, and we are stuck to a very small genre of our own. That's also a stereotype, and not in the best manner. So when a script like that comes up, from our place, it would be great to be given to somebody who is more eligible and who's close to that land, because it helps.”

Lin had earlier talked about Priyanka’s casting and told the Free Press Journal, “I admire Priyanka for her hard work, she really put in a lot of hours in order to look like Mary Kom but I always felt that casting is an important step in film. I believe in authenticity and inclusivity, so a girl from Manipur or the North East could have been surely cast to represent us.”

Mary Kom released in 2014 and was directed by Omung Kumar. It won a National Award in 2015.